Visions of a Diesel Future (Redux edition)
by ImHavok795
Summary: Humanity never found the Prothean ruins on Mars. Instead, they evolved on a different path technologically from the rest of the Galaxy. Atomic energy, biodiesel fuel, 1910-1950s aesthetics and attitudes. Meet a new Humanity. And all the supernatural horror that comes with them. (Story starts in the year 2150! Mostly OCs. Follows canon loosely. This is the new version!)
1. Prologue: The start

After The Omen, after the Broken Mask wars, after the Transcendant wars and after the brutalizing push for space Terra entered an era of optimism that persists in the modern day and colors their architecture, civilian and military, as well as how new vehicles are made. Relying still on the tried, tested and true strength of arm with some mechanical assistance technology had taken on aspects of the magic that permeated the omniverse putting it to use in ways that mundane science couldn't do or otherwise found difficult.

The industrious, harsh sharp angles of the pragmatism met the geometric, beautiful angles of the optimistic in Terran art. Smooth lines sat atop superstructures of sheer angles and broad faces, color mixed with gun-metal grey and the lights of optimism were tempered, mingled with the bleakness of pragmatism.

These two thoughts of art were just that: Two thoughts. Two ways out of impossibly many, but they were the ones chosen to represent the face of the Terrans when they began to push outward. Into the blackness of space, the big empty, full of wonder and terror, fear and hope, everything and nothing.

With tears wetting the eyes of even the most grizzled, hardened veteran of the wars and descendents of those whom had passed they pressed into that expanse and began to settle with the feet of excited Terrans hitting dirt and hands ready and ecstatic to make the new planets their homes.

Frontiersmen they were called as they explored the terraformed expanses of numerous planets and fought against the creatures that had managed to sneak in through the veil and put down hostile native fauna and in odd cases, flora. Fauna, flora, eachother if need be, expanses of land were settled and entire clans of people fought to defend their piece as they set off the beacons that would mark the timer. Whoever could hold the land would legally own it and be named the holders of said land.

Once territory was claimed and ready the land would be developed and ready for further population. First on the list was sealing any holes, tears, slips or rifts in the veil between worlds. Important to keep a population from being swallowed up by whatever horror awaits them beyond.

The veil was particularly sensitive in areas where ley lines connected, being centers of power and amplifiers in some ways making the veil fluctuate and wobble, eventually tearing in areas and giving way to creatures, people, and other things to leak through. In controlled amounts, these do little harm to most communities but everything in moderation.

The Alliance of Terra stocked all ships with drones, packed with information about their home nations and the Alliance itself. A hope, no matter how large or small, that they may meet someone else. Someone in their realm. Someone they could share a space with.

A hope, a glimmer of hope, that someone would chime in and say "Hello." A prayer, a hope, answered. Just not how they wish.

* * *

_**A/N: **_

_**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-**_

Let me pause my nervous screaming real fast and say: Welcome to the prologue! So what we've got here if you're not familiar with the previous version of Visions is a Dieselpunk science fantasy universe that is mingling with the Mass Effect universe in a number of ways. Mostly violently, with a lot of screaming and mentions of clowns in sewers. Things go bump in the night, magic is very real, and shit's spoopy but it's also very violent when it gets going.

There will be supernatural creatures, magic, etc. in this story. If ya don't like that, this story isn't gonna be your cup of joe. If it is, I pray you enjoy!


	2. Prologue: History

World Wars 1 & 2 were the first wars to openly employ massed arcane, occult, and eldritch knowledge, weaponry, sciences, and magics on a global scale. Perhaps that's what caused the Omen War right after. No one's sure. Just that what would've been rather mundane combat was instead turned inside out and fought with strange new technologies and magics. Some things were hailed as wonders of science, covered up by the governments and twisted, spun, to hide the truth of what hunted the forests, swam in the waters, and stalked the shadows. Others were out and out terrors, especially in the Nazi forces.

War was a close friend to any Human. Even the most pacifist of Human knew it deep down whether they accepted it or not that everything was an exertion of force, a projection of one's own refusal to lay down and be trampled. Whether it was done with tooth, claw, blade and gun or done with closed hands, bowed heads and soft words, resistance and exertion was the simply natural state of things.

So it was that after two of the bloodiest wars in modern history that more soon followed. With the conclusion of the Omen War came the War of the Broken Mask where hidden agents, civilians and enclaves were revealed to the 'mundane' world. Many of which were right in city centers, some who had infiltrated places of power.

* * *

**_The Broken Mask:_**

Supernatural creatures, forces, and magic was an open secret to anyone who knew anything about their nations. Magic was everywhere, it was simply impossible to deny it without going crosseyed. But few knew the extent to which their nations weaponized such forces.

As far as anyone was concerned, most of them didn't exist. Witches, lycanthropes, seers and thaumaturgists were employed in secret formations. Creatures that stalked the forests, glided across the sands, or hunted the waters had their own place in the wars.

When the final wave had come, the magical disguises utilized by the Hidden ('Glamours') had fallen, overwhelmed by the negative magic energy and revealed, forcefully, to the world and hell followed the reveal. Terrified by the sight, the very existance, of such beings, set the beleagured forces of the world off. Feeling betrayed and terrified by those they called friend the people of the world reacted with violence. Used to fighting and hiding, guerilla warfare was the global standard. Few hidden straggling Nazis that had perfected the art and helped to teach and fight for those who joined against the gloabal enemy of the destroyed reich.

Hellacious fighting ensued, weakened forces getting a second wind tempered with white hot fury at being betrayed and lied to. Forests were upturned or were watched and kept at bay by the end of bayonet and burning wand of flamethrowers, Mages tried to break through the ancient wards of the hidden enclaves but failed. Fae incursions saw an increase in Changeling populations, weakening the Humans and bolstering the creatures of the forests.

Many however refused to fight those who they deemed to be friends, brothers, and allies. Throwing down weapons and surrendering, the fury shown by the Humans was confused. Many of the surrendering were executed but soon entire swaths were imprisoned.

In the sewers, cults of eldritch things haunted the shadows and called from underneath the streets and hooked tendril-like fingers through the manhole covers to bring night owls into their hovels.

The hidden guardians of the Mundane world, the Blackwatch, revealed themselves. The subject of rumor, hushed tone and conspiracy theory had appeared bedecked in black and silver armor. Swinging censer-maces, firing silver stakes from pneumatic rifles and driving the very vehicles used in the second world war they appeared a strange and terrifying group.

Neither side was safe. Breaking the backs of Allied forces to subdue them when words wouldn't work, planting columns of rough iron around forests and daring any to cross (let alone come close).

Captain Edward Bishop, of whom was one of the commanders of the Occult Warfae Division, cursed the new war. "Damn you all! Damn you! We're trying to help you! We're all trying to help!" Holder of one of four bayonets, the Four Point Peace was the nail in the coffin for the Broken Mask War and brought on a short time for recuperation.

The Broken Mask had drawn the attention of a hidden pocket of Humanity 'lost' in a hellish realm seemingly an eternity ago. The Four Point Peace had finally introduced the new, strange faction to the greater world: The Noxmiran Empire. A neo-feudal empire of Humans who had since intermingled with Demons and integrated the hellish beings into their society. With the two societies mixed, their reveal was a shock to the peoples of Earth who held a shakey peace with the terrifying faction.

The Broken Mask war saw many ecosystems destroyed near to extinction, swathes of land torched by twisters of fire or split by earthquakes wrought through violent mage incursion. The Broken Mask saw the rise of the first embers of the Transcendance Wars, which started in Africa and solidified a widespread movement that anchored itself to Terra's crust.

Africa was a continental porcupine after three wars with minefields, pockets of undead and guerillas, rogue mages, esoteric cults that whispered doom, and deep in darkest Africa were peoples, places, and things most frightening. Furious at the state of their homelands, many African countries took to the once-forbidden magic of Biomancy to make up for the terror wrought.

Allying as the African Confederacy their forces raided wrecked Nazi labs and stole from entrenched Allied positions left in limbo from the wars and worked the occult sciences to create a new breed of Biomancer called Shapers to repopulate the depleted, sad landscapes of once beautiful Africa.

Outside of Africa people were more concerned with rebuilding, negotiating with the Noxmirans, and dealing with guerillas, cults, and other problems. No one noticed what was happening in Africa until the first real effects of African Biomancy revealed itself.

Great beasts walked the killfields and hunted for the landmines scattered there, deadly as much to the African people as they were the fauna, and ate the weapons allowing them to explode in their sturdy bellies.

Tall, birdlike creatures were ridden by Outriders who acted as scouts and light cavalry dressed in the clothing of their nation or tribe, weapons salvaged from fallen Allies and Nazi alike. Creatures born from similar genetic makeup as the famed big cats and wild dogs stalked alongside the African soldiers and their mine-sweeping pachyderm-like beasts.

As confused as they were horrified by the new, unnatural creatures, inquiries and scouting teams were launched to see what the African Confederacy was up to. What they found were thriving oasis towns packed with homes constructed of mutant baobab trees and sustained by beasts fed from fungus and tubers. Witch-doctors grew sacks from hanging, tumerous wall-carpets and carefully cut them from the carpet and squeezed the juice into a cup to heal ailments of their patients.

Confederate soldiers wore armor of thick chitin, harvested from giant insects unaffected by what realistically should've crushed them under their own weight. Titanic rhino beetles were hoisted by crane into giant pots, like a great big lobster boiler, and boiled to make more solid the fluids within and seperate the chitin from flesh more easily.

News reached the rest of the world where many reacted with revulsion to the practice. Perversions of nature, that's what it was! Further investigation saw that many were abandoning their human forms, for reasons unknown, and becoming something else entirely.

* * *

**_The Transcendence War_**

Sheer irrational fear drove the Transcendence War into fruition. Afraid for what such magic and technology could mean for the future of mankind, Africa was besieged by weakened factions and brought to bare its own newfound might upon them.

Way beyond driven the African Confederacy fought tall and proud against their enemies, Shapers pushing and breaking the boundaries of the Human body and burning the question of what it meant to be human into Humanities collective psyche.

While at first the war was easy, even comedic in some ways, the acts of the Shapers disillusioned some who began to question and wonder: Where was too far? When did it stop?

Most of the Shapers had no intention of stopping. Creating creatures inhuman out of what once was a Human, the question soon became a demand. A demand soon became a war in its own right.

The Transcendence War had come to a simmer, no one outside of the continent was capable of pushing without breaking. The African Confederacy in its infancy suffered its first civil war. The Transcendents warred with the Traditionalists, spore-like minefields deployed in place of the metal and wood ones deployed by the rest of the world.

Seemingly failing to learn their lesson the Confederacy scourged the oases and made sour the land. It snowballed until titanic creatures stalked the many, beautiful lands of Africa and hunted down opponents of either side.

The Traditionalists of the Civil War took the stance that Shaping was fine. Creating new creatures, even modifying the body, was fine. They were still Human.

The Transcendents took the opposite stance: To be Human was to change. To become something beyond Human was the ultimate goal. To change everyone was part of it.

The Transcendents however burnt out after gruelling combat with the Traditionalists. Changing their forms too much, too often, burnt out what remained of their bodies and soon they atrophied. The Traditionalists won (some would say 'by default') and the rebuilding began.

Giant insects acted as beasts of burden for the Africans then, rhino beetles acting as caravan, laborer, and food source while giant flowers sprouted and bloomed helped by populations of giant bees. Taking notes from termites, mounds made of wood, dirt, ash and resins were built up at the base of a titanic tree, the Tree of Unity was planted and grew fast. The capital of the African Confederacy is there, carved into the thick bark of the Tree of Unity.

* * *

**_Noxmire comes onto the stage_**

Noxmire was surprisingly amicable to the beleagured world of Earth. When talking about a society of infernal Humans who coexisted with Demonic entities chaos and terror could only be had. Showing instead that Noxmire had a heart at the center the Emperor of Noxmire sent a delegate, a Human, dressed in his best clothing. A fine mix of noble and military. Heavy leathers, fine silks, cut gems filled with some sort of ethereal material coated a fine crown over his brow.

A gentle glow eminated from the gems. One of which was embedded in the hilt of a long sabre that hung from the Ambassador's hip. The unmistakable effects of demonic taint could be seen and sensed, however. Just the faintest whiff of brimstone, perhaps, or the way the designs on his cape would turn and writhe if looked at in the right light (or absence thereof) and of course in the ambassador himself.

He appeared to be caucasian though his skin had taken on something of an ashy complexion or he'd applied his makeup a little too thick. His sclera were black and the pupils were a fascinating color of purple.

Following him were a repitoire of guards dressed in off-white armor plate with accents of purple and gold. The guards walked in perfect lockstep with one another though the fact that one or two of them had digitigrade legs told the story that not all of them were Human.

With them, too, was a troop of what appeared to be general infantry or men-at-arms, and a group of humans and demonic creatures whose very stance and way they carried themselves showed they were servants of the ambassador. Serfs.

The ambassador, who'd introduced himself as Lord Hadegar, bid well to the assembly before him as the meeting place for what would be called the Alliance of Terra and eventually Systems Alliance was in the making.

Lord Hadegar made a fine show of introducing the Noxmiran Empire to the people of Earth and made it clear that while, yes, they were a demonic society theirs was not a totally unfair or unreasonable one. In fact, reason and dealership was part of the game.

Being as truthful as one could hope for out of an ambassador from a very strange power such as Noxmire (painfully honest, in truth), the ambassador made it clear the Emperor's intentions with sending Hadegar to Earth: Broker peace and see if, perhaps, some trade could be done. Maybe friends could be made.

Over time, the Terrans (as the Noxmirans called them, which seemed to stick) began to see more of Noxmire. Feudal lords would send ambassadors, tradesmen, and servants to scout the world and bring back details of their findings.

When Noxmire opened up more, it was obvious many parts of their society wouldn't cohabitate with the many Terran cultures, or were simply too dangerous to consider. Onesuch was the upholding of the contract as an absolute part of law. Few were exempt from the power of the written word and contracts were a very serious part of the culture.

Slavery, of Humans and otherwise, was part of the norm for Noxmire. Admittedly, slaves weren't often treated as awfully as they could've been but even still the reality of their situation drove something of a wedge between Earth and Noxmire.

What the people of Earth called the Seven Deadly Sins were known as the Virtuous Vices. Different Sins, or Vices, affected certain individuals (especially demons) differently and were represented differently in Noxmiran society. Excess was more a norm than the newly scarred people of Earth could handle.

Despite this and understanding the differences, Noxmire kept communication and trade open as much as it could. While different in sometimes exceedingly offensive ways relations were maintained at least in a professional sense.

* * *

**_Space Race_**

Turning inward rather than outward, the many nations of Earth sought to heal and repair. To fix what was broken and make better what had fallen. Gardens could've been called 'Victory Gardens' if the end of WW2 hadn't leapt right into more wars. The people sought something to hang onto, something they could hold, see, and touch.

Propaganda spread like wildfire. Posters with inspiring messages, instructions, calls to action and orders of determination not to give up spread far and wide. Gardens could be found everywhere, few houses went without a garden to sustain them for fear that maybe, just maybe, they wouldn't survive without them.

Communities came together and formed the basis for what would be a revived, changed, guild system and strived together to survive, repopulate, rebuild.

Over time the world healed. Africa was the top supplier of biomantic supplies and beasts of burden to help with rebuilding efforts when machines were low in supply and soon Shapers were found wandering. Spreading their knowledge to those mages that would hear it.

Destroyed ecosystems, animals near extinction, and others were revived with cloned, vat-grown replacements and soon enough the world was made closer to whole again.

However, Earth was now being shared by more than Humans or beings from other realms. Once-human populations were small, but present. Mutants descended from the African Civil War, children of Transcendents and Traditionalists or those in other parts of the world wanting to experience something new and strange, beautiful and terrible.

War was far from anyone's mind but the pushback against these mutants was severe in some places, causing civil unrest in some areas that they were more prevalent. Whether on the side against or for them, it never escalated beyond some minor scuffles.

The world was tired. The people didn't want to fight, not for a while. Instead they focused their efforts on the 'knuckle down and do it' attitude which would color them for generations into modernity.

When the world was fine and the people were looking to the skies again it was a near unanimous decision: We want to go to the moon.

New alliances formed. The Nordic Nationalist Alliance formed from Nordic countries sharing a commonality in their heritage and histories and newly revived religions based on those of their ancestors. Nordic Pagans became the first of the Pagan Wave to rise. Following soon after came others who proclaimed their worship of old gods. The Hellenic League, a confederacy of Hellenic states, revived the worship of the Olympian gods with a surprising fervor and revived some of the olden ways. For example, in Sparta, the martial culture had revived and while changed some from its true classic style it bred strong soldiers.

More came after. From Europe to Asia and all around, old gods were seemingly revived and enjoyed a renaissance of worship. Christianity and similar religions remained a powerhouse in terms of worship in many places, however, never falling far.

With the new alliances and faiths formed, found and regained, Alliances and countries pushed for space. Many of the vehicles that ran for space failed. Burning, exploding, and dying before they could reach the blackness proper.

This simply wouldn't do. Biomancy, alchemy, and good old materials science went into figuring out ways to make orbital entry easier. The progenitors to what would be called Aerium, Pyrum, Adamantium, Orichalcum, and Terrum were used in WW2 as experimental, highly classified materials that went into fighting the secret war behind the mundane.

With the knowledge scrounged up and reapplied, the space race became easier for many and competition was high. No one's sure who got to space first though asking any nation or alliance will get the answer of "We did!" so it's mostly up to one's interpretation.

Once it was accomplished, space became a relatively easy-to-attain frontier though terrifying and wonderful all the same. To the moon and Mars and beyond, the Alliance of Terra pushed and colonized.

A veteran of WW2, The Broken Mask, and other wars Mercy was chosen to be one of those Terrans who saw others to such a place. A guardian, a warrior, a soldier even with her age and her scars. A ship was built that would be her new form. A huge dreadnought, two miles long and better part of two wide, was crafted. She watched it happen, saw the construction and weeped that her crew, her family, couldn't be there to see it happen as well.

When the time came, Mercy was entombed in her new body. Over the course of a month, she adapted to the new far larger body and by the end of the second her legendary Sherman body sat there. Forever to remain, her heart, her soul. Her core.

Mercy was the largest ship the Alliance had yet to field. A true titan. Her departure from Earth's atmosphere was a sight to behold and she was followed by many smaller ships. Unseen to the crews and the citizenry, Mercy's spirit stood tall on the bow of her own body and watched as the other ships milled around her.

Like a great mother, Mercy was the matriarch of the navy. While not the oldest veteran (that honor belonged to Mechanoids like General Abbot and others) she was by far the largest and commanded respect. Whoever would crew her, would command her, would be at the helm of the largest ship Terra had to offer.

By this time, the Alliance of Terra swiftly became the Systems Alliance, being not only the Terran nations but the colonial territories allied to her, Noxmire, and small pockets of the supernatural that swore themselves to service.

The future looked hopeful, bright, and pure. Pragmatism stated that such an outlook was foolish. Something would go wrong.

Optimism reinforced the idea that it was good!

Truth would show them just how terrible the future could be.

* * *

**_A/N:_**

**_aww sheeit. I'm still writin'! Bit of a history timeline-esque chapter before we get to the next. It's comin'! _**


End file.
